By Your Side
by CLMScagliotti
Summary: "All I want now is to be with you, 'cause you know I've been everywhere else. Looking back at what you got me through, you knew me better than I knew myself." Clinks High School AU
1. Stumbling Backwards In The Dark

By Your Side

A/N: KNOCK KNOCK. Alright my dear readers, this is a story I've been plotting with for awhile now. Jayde came to me with the idea and I'm honored to work with a girl with her imagination.

It's a high school AU. This chapter plays about three or four years before the real story as an introduction. The current main characters are Claudia Donovan, Steven Jinks, Olivia Jinks and on the sidelines Emma Jinks and Meagan Reese. The rest of the team will appear on the sidelines later, but the main characters will be Steve and Claude.

The title of the story as well as the one for this chapter, the intro and summary is taken from the song By Your Side by Lifehouse.

Introduction/ Chapter 1: Stumbling Backwards In The Dark

Fighting my way back to where you are

The only place I ever felt at home

Stumbling backwards through the dark

I know how it feels to be alone

And where we go is where I wanna be

And in the silence I hear you say to me

I'll be by your side.

Claudia Donovan was officially on the run again. The twelve year old girl had been living with this family for a few months now, but she couldn't stay there anymore. She had hoped that this time it would finally work out. That maybe she actually found a place to stay at. At least for a year or two. But it was once again proven to her that there was no family out there in this universe who could accept her the way she simply was. Within two years she'd already been stuck in more so-called homes than she cared to count.

At first they seemed to be a nice family. It all looked so picture perfect. With mother Melissa Reese, the loving housewife. With her husband Micheal Reese, the fair and justice loving lawyer. And of course their daughter Meagan Reese. Meagan was the typical cheerleader on the outside. At the beginning she'd been so mean and she acted like everybody in the room should be grateful to be aloud to stand so close to someone like her. But after a few weeks they started bonding. Claudia found out that Meagan was adopted, which was a secret the blonde kept from everybody else. They became friends. And soon after that they considered each other sisters.

Sadly the time when Claudia found out that Meagan wasn't half as bad as she thought, she also found out that Michael and Melissa were twice as bad. Melissa would become tired of them and suddenly disappear for a few days without saying a word. And he wasn't any better. Michael was known to keep calm under any pressure. Even when a case hit close to his own home he always saw it rationally. Claudia thought that he could do that simply because it was his job. But by now she started to doubt he actually cared about what happened. All he wanted from this job was money. And maybe a few opportunities to argue with others.

At least at home he did that all the time. Whenever his wife decided to take some time off again, the ugliest sides of her husband's personality came to see the light of the day. He kept shouting at the girls. And when he was sure nobody was watching, he used them as his professional punching bags.

Claudia decided to find a solution. She didn't know any close relatives of her own. But Meagan once told her her real mother's name. And if she already couldn't get away from here, she would at least open the gates for her foster sister.

The girl's computer skills were something she usually kept close to her chest. She didn't want anybody to know about what she could do. She was planning her break out of the system. And she didn't want them to see this coming around the corner. But she quit all of her own researches to find a way to help her friend.

And what she found was exactly what she was looking for. She had to bypass about a zillion firewalls and invade about a thousand people's privacy, but she found out that Meagan indeed had an aunt. A living, biological aunt.

Using one of her aliases, she contacted the woman online and informed her about her young relative. And it seems Claudia found just the right words to trigger the wanted reaction from her: Meagan's aunt called the system and asked them to be aloud to take the girl in. Nobody knew how she could possibly know about her dead sister's daughter. But they had better things to do. When the Reeses wouldn't gives their adopted daughter away, the case went in front of the court almost immediately. Those went on for about three months until the judges finally decided to leave the decision to Meagan herself last week. Claudia could still hear the hesitant knock on her room's door. The blonde refused to leave Claudia alone there.

But Claudia just shook her head. She told Meagan that it was her idea in first place. That this was all part of her plan. After they'd been discussing for nearly an hour, Claudia had finally convinced her to leave.

So now that Claudia was sure this would work out, she didn't have a reason to stay with those people anymore. In fact, it would only help Meagan's aunt to prove that Micheal and Melissa were terrible parents. So it was a win-win situation for her, right?

She didn't tell Meagan that she was leaving. Her friend and fellow foster child would have only tried to stop her. Claudia already had the small bag with her stuff underneath her bed. She always did. Because she always expected to leave.

She had only been waiting for the night to come. It was easier to hide in the shadows. And maybe, just maybe, nobody would catch her this time.

Claudia quickly got dressed and ready to leave. Meagan fell asleep about an hour ago. A sad smile crossed the runaway's face. Leaving Meagan behind wasn't easy. But at least she'd made sure that the blonde would get a new chance. Even though her aunt was living in Illinois, while Claudia was stuck in New Jersey for now.

But there had to be a price. And Claudia was more that willing to be the one to pay.

She'd mentally gone through her plan about a thousand times already. The girl had seen it coming around the corner that Melissa would disappear again under those circumstances. She was probably drowning her worries in vodka at a nearby bar. Micheal didn't return from work yet. Claudia knew that, because she made sure to mess with a few work schedules to keep him away long enough.

So it was her chance now. She would walk out and nobody would even notice that she's gone until Meagan woke up in the morning.

Taking a deep breath in, she hurried down the stairs with her usual runaway bag. She suddenly felt bad for leaving Meagan without any further explanation, but this was the best way. She opened the door and quietly closed it behind herself again. The orphan took a searching look around, afraid one of the neighbors would see her.

And once she was sure nobody was watching her escape, she ran. She ran through the dark and took more turns than she planned too until she completely lost track of where she was. She turned around while she slowed down a little bit, hoping to catch sight of any familiar buildings. But all she could see was the darkness of the night. That's when the doubts came. And they were soon accompanied by panic. So she did what she planned to do, even though her plans were about to get shaken and shattered. She closed her eyes and ran. She tightened her grip on the strap of her bag and desperately tried to hold back her tears, only to feel the sky's tears rolling down her cheek. Raindrops. It was raining. As if this wasn't already a terrible night for her. She ran faster and faster until she literally ran out of oxygen. Her eyes stayed closed as she dropped onto her knees and let the tears come. She didn't know how long she just sat there and cried, constantly feeling how the cold raindrops washed her hot tears away.

"Hey."

Claudia froze. Was she going entirely crazy now or did someone just talk to her? Did Meagan find her after all? The voice sounded friendly, but so unfamiliar. She slowly opened her eyes and looked up at a brunette girl, maybe two or three years older than her. The stranger seemed to study her face with a worried expression on her own. Claudia couldn't say anything, but the older girl certainly could.

"Hey, are you okay? What in heaven's name are you doing on a cemetery all alone at night?"

A cemetery? Claudia took a look at her surroundings for the first time now. And indeed she was surrounded by gravestones and creepy old trees. This looked like one of those movies Melissa didn't want them to watch. And maybe that was the best parental advice she ever got from her former foster mother.

"I..."

The stranger smiled sympathetically. "You don't have the slightest clue where you are, do you?"

Claudia rolled her lips in and nodded slowly.

The brunette smirked reassuringly. "No worries, kid. It doesn't matter right now. I'm Olivia by the way. But you can call me Liv."

Claudia was still afraid, but this Olivia seemed to be a trustworthy girl. The younger brunette even found herself smiling a little bit.

"I'm Claudia."

Olivia's expression brightened visibly. "So you can talk properly after all. It's nice to meet you, Claudia. Now, if you don't mind me asking, why are you here?"

Claudia hesitated for a moment. Should she really tell her story to a complete stranger?

"I'm... I ran away from my foster parents."

Olivia's eyes widened and she gulped. "I'm sorry to hear that. But... if it helps you somehow, I'm here to visit my dad. Or rather the cold stone with my dad's name on it." The brunette looked to the ground.

Claudia looked up at her with wide and sad eyes. And for a few minutes the only sound surrounding the girls was the rain dripping from the trees. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, quite the opposite. But it reminded them where they were. This was still a barely lit cemetery and it was still raining.

Both girls started to freeze in their rain soaked clothes. It was Olivia who broke the silence again. "Damn, I should have brought an umbrella. But we should go out of this weather anyways. I'm sure you can stay with me, mom and Stevie for now. If that's okay for you?"

Claudia thought about that for a moment. She never expected to get an offer like this. But she's only been with people who picked her to go with them in the last years. Maybe it was time for her to choose a family on her own. And a big sister like Liv was definitely a good start. And this time she was asked. It was entirely Claudia's choice. She couldn't expect them to take her in for longer, but to Claudia 'for now' could be one of the best parts of her youth. So her decision was made pretty quickly. "I'd like that. If it's really okay for your mom."

Olivia grinned. "Don't worry, Claude. My mom and my little brother will love you. You'll help me to bring a little bit of life and colors into that old house. Come on!"

The brunette took the younger girl by the wrist and took off running. Claudia nearly stumbled at the sudden movement, but she wanted to get out of the cold and into a welcoming home for once. And suddenly the orphan noticed something. Running through the rain with Liv didn't feel like running away. She didn't leave a place, she was on her way to one. She had a destination. And despite the cold rain and her exhausted feet she found herself laughing at the thought.

They ran and laughed together for about ten minutes before they reached a tall house. Both of them were tired and freezing, but that couldn't ruin the mood right now. Even though Claudia was a little bit nervous. After all, she was about to ask a complete stranger if she could stay at their house for some time. And she couldn't even tell them when she would leave again. She always left when she wanted to, but what if she wouldn't want to leave Liv's family again?

Suddenly Claudia felt Liv squeezing her hand lightly. Turning to look at her new friend, she was greeted by that reassuring smile again. "It'll be alright, Claude. Mom will be a little bit surprised at first, but she'll get over it. Usually I just bring little animals home and no human children. But she's my mom. She's used to it. Besides, when she sees us she'll be worried in first place. I wouldn't be surprised if she asked you to stay." She narrowed her eyes at me, clearly waiting for me to calm down. Well, to calm my nerves. In the literal sense, I was already freezing. I gave her a short nod to tell her that I was as ready as I'll ever be. She took a step forward and rang the doorbell.

After only a few seconds the door flew open and revealed a redheaded woman. I'm not sure if the color was natural though. Probably not. Other than that I could only confirm what Liv told me. Her mother looked worried. It's been a few years since I've last seen such a caring mom. She looked confused when she spotted me but instead of asking anything she just pulled us inside, closing the door behind us.

I took a few seconds to look around the room. There were stairs leading to the second floor and there were pictures of the happy family on the walls. I focused my gaze on one picture. It seemed to have been taken around the Christmas time. The decorated tree was bringing light into the entire living room. The lucky parents were sitting on the sofa, the father's arm around his wife's shoulders. She had pulled her feet onto the seat. On the floor in front of them sat Liv. She seemed to be around 7 or 8 years old. On her lap sat a boy, about one or two years younger than her. Liv's head was resting on her brother's left shoulder. All four of them were smiling brightly.

A small smile appeared on Claudia's face. They looked so happy. Claudia almost began to cry again. This image awoke so many memories in her mind. She felt Liv's hand on her shoulder and turned to look at her. The older girl looked very worried. But before either of them could say anything, Liv's mother spoke up.

"Livi, why didn't you come home when it began to rain? You can't stay out of school so much just because you keep catching colds. It's no wonder. You're always out there in the cold. How many times did I already tell you to come back as soon as you start to freeze or when it's raining? And who is your new friend? Was she out there freezing too? Where were you two?"

Liv rolled her eyes. "Mom, I'll be fine. I was just... taking a walk. That's all. I met Claudia in the nearby park. She's cold and I'm sure she's tired and hungry too. I offered her to ask you if she could stay with us for a few nights? She's completely innocent I swear. But the story is long and it's late. She can sleep in my room, right?"

Claudia almost had to laugh at Liv's expression. Her eyes went wide and she shoved her lower lip forward. To the end of her short explanation her voice sounded almost begging. She looked like a hungry puppy. Something like this would never work at any of Claudia's foster homes. But it seemed that it worked here. But Claudia still felt that she needed to ask for herself.

"I'm sorry, Mrs..." She looked to the ground. She didn't even know her last name.

The woman just smiled slightly, feeling sorry for the child. "Jinks. But you can call me Emma."

Claudia smiled back at her, feeling reassured by Mrs Jinks' friendly offer. "Thank you. Listen... I know this is not something you get asked every day. But right now I really don't know where to go. I can't go back to where I came from. I'm not asking you to keep me here longer than I'm welcome. I just hope that I can stay here for a night or two. Or at least until tomorrow, when it's not raining anymore and I can see where I'm going again."

Emma sighed and shook her head. "Okay. Claudia, was it?" At the girl's nod, she continued. "Claudia, I'm not gonna let you go anywhere until I can be sure you know where you're going. And you just told me yourself that you don't know that. So you'll stay here for now. As Liv already suggested, I believe you should stay in her room. You two already seem to get along. And I'm sure Steven won't mind. I hope you know that you'll have to tell me how this all started though. But that can wait until tomorrow."

Both girls let out a deep breath and smiled at each other. That was just about the best reaction they could have expected. Claudia just stood there for a moment, hesitating. She stayed silent for nearly a minute before she rushed forward and wrapped her arms around Emma. "Thank you." Her voice was barely above a whisper. She was almost as surpirsed by her own actions as the others were. Emma just looked at her for a few second before she laughed.

"It's no problem, Claudia. I don't know what's going on in your life, but who would I be to send a girl in need of help away? After all you can't be older than 13."

"I'm 12." She slowly pulled away. "But my age never mattered to me."

"12?" Emma smirked. "Well then you're offically the youngest here. My daughter Olivia is almost 15 and her brother Steven is 13. But I imagine you're very tired. Livi can borrow you a shirt for tonight. You can't very well stay in those cold clothes. The same goes for you too, Liv. Are you two hungry?"

Olivia nodded eagerly. "Food sounds good. Can you warm a pizza up?"

"Olivia, it's late. This is not the time for pizza."

"Please, mom! I'm really hungry. And I'm sure I've got Claude and Stevie on my side."

Claudia chuckled quietly until she noticed that she wasn't the only one who thought this conversation was hilarious. She quickly turned around to see where the sound came from. A boy with bright blue eyes stood in the doorway to what she assumed was the kitchen. They smiled at each other when Olivia wrapped one right arm around Claudia's shoulders. Steve smirked at his sister.

"What did you bring home this time, Liv? She doesn't look like the cat you brought last week at all."

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Claude, that's my brother Steve. Stevie, that's Claudia. And she's my friend. So you should be nice to her. She'll be staying in my room for some time."

"That sounds great. So who decided to take you in return?"

Claudia had to bite her tongue to make sure she wouldn't laugh. Those two sounded like Joshua and Claire. And there went her good mood. She kept her smile on her face and struggled to push the negative thoughts and hurtful memories into the back of her mind. She didn't notice how the boy studied her expression. He raised his eyebrows. "Hey, are you alright?"

She looked up at him, surprised that he was the one who asked. Or that anyone asked at all. She thought about her answer for a second, then she nodded quickly. She wanted to avoid questions. "I'm fine."

He narrowed his eyes at the girl. She was lying. And her expression told him that this was an habit of hers. But she didn't want to lie. She just felt like she had to. He felt sorry for her. She looked so hurt. And she tried to cover it up. She tried to hide behind a masquerade. But she couldn't know that he could see right through it. He looked into her eyes and he got an image of what happened to her. And what he saw scared him. In moments like this his special gift felt like a curse. But maybe he could help her.

Liv's eyes wandered from Claudia to Steve and back. She knew about her brother's abilities. But his expression gave away way more about their guest's condition than Claudia's own. Olivia didn't remember ever seeing her little brother so affected by another person's worries. Even though she wasn't sure what exactly was going on there. Instead she decided to switch the topic and finally get rid of her hunger.

"So pizza?"

Emma sighed and looked at the two youngest in the room, hoping for a little bit help from there. But Steve only nodded and Claudia didn't look like she cared about what they'd eat. She only looked tired.

So they ended up sitting in the living room and eating three different pizzas only half an hour later. It felt like Claudia was eating with a family for the first time in years. And in a way that was even true. She sat on the sofa between the siblings while their mother sat on an armchair on the opposite side of the table. Occasionally they exchanged a few words, but they mostly just sat in a comfortable silence. All of them were too tired to actually think.

After they finished eating, Emma asked Liv to help her to bring the dishes to the kitchen. Of course Liv saw that as an opportunity. While her mother turned on the water, she leant back against the counter and smiled. "You know she needs a place to stay at, right? Like, for a few years and not a few days."

Emma sighed and glanced at her daughter. "Livi, I already have two children here. We couldn't handle a cat. How would I handle a third kid? And we know nothing about her. What's her last name? Where did she come from? What happened to her family?"

"I know that she's really cool and that she fits in here. She needs help. She needs a family. And we could be that family! I always wanted to have a sister! And Stevie likes her too. And so do you. She's good for us and you know it. This place is so dark and cold since dad died. I know how she feels. We can't give her a dad. But you could be her new mom. You want to help her too. I can see it in the way you watch us. You imagine how it would be if we kept her around. Just admit it! You can see this working out just the way I do."

"Of course I thought about it, Olivia. But she's not a pet. We can't just keep her. This is very complicated. Please, just let me think about it for a while, okay?"

Liv sighed and nodded. She couldn't force her mother to take Claudia in as her daughter, even though she could see how much Emma wanted that herself. She could only hope. When they came back to the living room, they were greeted by an unexpected sight.

Claudia had pulled her feet up onto the sofa. The girl's head was resting on the boy's shoulder and both of the children had closed their eyes. It seems they all had a long day behind them. Olivia smiled. It was weird how fast her usually so distant little brother got used to the new girl. The younger kids looked so cute. And a quick glance at her mother confirmed that she thought just the same thing. That's when Olivia knew that she had a new little sister now.


	2. A Place To Call Home

**A/N:**** KNOCK KNOCK.**

**Yes, I'm still alive. Surprised? Yeah, me too. Especially since my laptop kept causing trouble recently, add that to my already chaotic mind... well, you get it. But I'm back now. **

**I originally didn't want to post this chapter before I could reach Jayde again, but it's been quite awhile since I heard from her and this has been begging to be published. **

**I hope you'll like it. **

**KTF CLM **

Saturday

Claudia yawned, blinking multiple times as she sat up in her bed. She'd been living with Olivia, Steve and Emma for years now, but she never got used to their sleeping rhythm. Apparently, they all woke up at 5 am. Steve was still in his room, Emma was already preparing the breakfast downstairs and Liv started the morning with meditation and yoga. About three feet away from Claudia's bed. And, naturally, with music blasting through her headphones at a volume so high that even her brother should hear it in the room next-door. Claudia glanced towards Liv, the annoyance clearly visible in her sleepy eyes. She loved Olivia like her own sister, but this was going on her last nerve. "Livi." She didn't have the power to speak louder than that, let alone louder than her surrogate sister's MP3 player. Olivia stood with the back to her, both hands reaching over her shoulders and holding her foot behind her back. Claudia really didn't understand the sense in trying to prove that her bones were as bendable as gum, but Olivia was pretty proud about it. However, now Claudia wanted to wake up in peace. Which, for her, meant to sleep about half an hour more before Emma would come upstairs to gather the children for breakfast. So she took all the energy she could afford so early in the morning and kicked her sister against the spine. "Ouch!" The brunette quickly swung around. The furious mood was washed of her face within seconds. "Claude! You're awake!" Claudia rolled her eyes and nodded weakly. "More or less. Thanks to you." Liv's eyes widened. "Oh, geez. I'm so sorry Claude. But hey! Today's a special day!" Claudia slowly sat up and leaned against the wall for support. "What? Yet another Saturday that's ruined because I had to wake up before 12 o'clock?" This time it was Olivia's turn to roll her eyes. She was used to this. How could Claudia still be such a sleepyhead? They'd been living together for years now. At some point she should have accepted it. "No. Because I promised you something, remember?" A spark appeared in Claudia's by now less tired eyes. "Right! I had totally forgotten about that!"

As the years went by, Claudia and Olivia had grown pretty close. They'd told each other almost everything. At first the younger girl was still hesitant. After all she'd always been a bit of a loner. And now she was sharing a room with this energy bomb of a teenager. But she soon found her place here. After only weeks she had to admit to herself that this really did feel like family. And that's when she started to open up. To Emma, to Steve and Olivia. Last month Claudia and Olivia had been talking about Claudia's biological family. It didn't go unnoticed by the older girl how much Claudia had adored her first older sister. It seemed to her that Claire had been a pretty awesome sister, and Livi was honoured to take over for her. The topic had come up when one day Emma came home from the hairdresser with shining red hair. Claudia had told Liv that Claire's red hair had been a trademark for her. Claire had even promised her sister that, once she was old enough and their parents would allow it, she would colour Claudia's hair red too. The sisters had been looking forward to that, until one day Claudia's entire life was crashed when she lost her family. She still had Joshua, but he wasn't the same after that either. And soon she entirely lost him too. Olivia had been so emotionally moved by that story that she decided to offer her help in this matter. And so she promised Claudia that she'd take over again and dye the younger girl's hair. Emma had agreed without asking too many questions, seeing that it was important to the girls. Olivia knew that Claudia had immense trouble with trust, so she immediately gave her a day and a time for the soon to be redhead to hold onto.

Claudia pulled herself up from the bed, gratefully accepting the supporting hand Olivia was holding out to her. Both girls were smiling brightly as they rushed out of the room. Olivia was, as always, only a few steps faster than Claudia. So she was already halfway down the stairs when Claudia crashed into her brother upstairs. Both of the stumbled back a few steps, but Steve managed to grab the railing and quickly caught Claudia by the wrist, pulling her up so she was standing right in front of him. She needed a few seconds to realize what happened, then she cleared her throat and nodded firmly. "Thanks. I... Thanks. I didn't watch where I was going." He smiled back at her and shook his head. "It's absolutely fine, Claude." She couldn't help smiling at this. She didn't knew why, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to know it, but she always had to reflect his smile. Deep down, Claudia was very well aware of the fact that she had developed a crush on her surrogate brother over the time they spent together, but she pushed it away. She always did, because in her opinion this was really the last thing that she could need. Who knew what Emma would say? Maybe she would have to move out again if she knew. Or what if Livi knew? In the best case, she'd chuckle and make jokes about how her surrogate sister managed to fall for her little brother. In the worst case scenario, she could be furious because her best friend developed feelings for her brother and didn't even tell her. And worst of all, what would Steve say? They were basically siblings. He could laugh at her. No. He wouldn't do that. He would probably rather start a relationship he didn't even want than hurt Claudia in any way. By the time both Claudia and Steve realized they'd been standing there and staring at each other for about a minute, Liv had come halfway up the stairs again to see why Claudia wasn't right behind her anymore. The older girl chuckled silently, seeing that her brother was still holding Claudia's wrist and neither of them even noticed it. The older girl nervously cleared her throat, trying to keep her smirk unnoticed. Not that either of the others was currently paying much attention to her. "Alright. So breakfast is just about ready to get eaten. Mom made pancakes. So, I'll just go to the kitchen and prepare the table for us. See you there." She bit her lower lip and rushed towards the dining room again, grinning mischievously. She knew from the start that those two would get along perfectly. She stopped by at the kitchen and quickly grabbed four plates that were already waiting for her beside the stoveon the counter. Her mother was currently loading pancakes onto a taller plate. She raised an eyebrow at her daughter's expression, but she decided to just let it be. Considered that it was Olivia, the scene wasn't even all that unusual. She laughed out loud without any understandable reason, she ran through the house just because she had too much energy or she was bored and occasionally she just hugged her family and friends out of nowhere. Sometimes Claudia joked about it, but nobody ever complained about her affectionate and sometimes chaotic attitude. But today she seemed to be a little beside herself. "Liv, watch out please. You're going to drop the plates."

Sadly, Emma's warning came a little too late. Her daughter literally stumbled into the half opened door to the dining room. Olivia and the plates crashed onto the ground within seconds. Steve and Claudia saw the scene, but neither of them were fast enough to catch her. "Liv!" Claudia was the first one by her side. She knelt down beside her surrogate sister, a worried look on her face. "Are you okay, Livi?" The older girl nodded, leaning herself onto her hands for support. She looked down on the four shattered plates and rolled her lips in, looking up at her mother, who was now standing in the doorway. "I'm sorry, mom." Emma just smiled and shook her head. "It's alright, Olivia. Plates are replaceable. Are you sure you're going to be fine?" Liv nodded gratefully. Their mother was indeed a lot more relaxed since she was too busy thinking about the three kids in her house to worry about the past. Olivia was still convinced that the decision to bring Claudia home was the best choice she ever made. She smiled at her mother until she saw two hands reaching out to her. Claudia had stood up again and was now standing beside Steve, each of them holding one hand out to Liv. The brunette smirked at the sight and grabbed both hands, pulling herself up again.

"Seems like you two are magnetic to the floor today." Claudia tried to keep her blush at Steve's words subtle, but of course Olivia noticed. This girl had her eyes everywhere. And she loved what she saw. Usually, Claudia didn't give a damn about what other people thought about her. But there were simply a few people who she didn't want to see her weak or foolish. She wanted to make Emma proud, she wanted to impress Olivia. And she wanted Steven to think of her as the closest to perfect that she could do. Even though by now it was pretty obvious, at least to Liv, that she didn't just want to be the perfect little sister. Olivia was getting a little impatient, waiting for them to notice what she had seen coming around the corner so long ago already. Emma watched the glances that were exchanged between the children and sighed, turning to get four other plates from the kitchen.

Meanwhile the children, or by now rather the teens, sat down at the dining table. Just like every day, Steve and Claude sat down on one side of the table while Olivia sat on the opposite side, waiting for their mother to take the seat beside her. It had always been this way, only that Claudia was now filling in the seat where Olivia's and Steve's father had been sitting so many years ago. Once she let go of her hesitations, Claudia had started walking around this house like she owned the place. All that earned her from the others was the one or other smirk, or a raised eyebrow whenever Liv wasn't at home and she just walked into Steve's room instead. Claudia used to play the guitar and sing with Claire every day, which was one of the first things she told Steve about her original family. It was actually back when she visited him in his room for the first time about a week after she moved in. She immediately spotted the guitar in the corner and asked him if he could play. He told her that his sister taught him the basics, but he wasn't very good. However, after one or two jam sessions Claudia had to disagree. It didn't take them long to find a collection of topics to talk about. Granted, her attempt to teach him a few tricks with the computer had backfired. They even had something like an argument, but like pretty much every other one of their disagreements it ended in laughter and was already forgotten the next day. But they talked about their families, about their hobbies and about things that usually nobody else would understand. He told her about his ability to see when people were lying to him, and she jokingly tried out a few lies on him. She was surprised when he became extremely annoyed by that, but after he explained it to her she let it go. He had said that liars just gave him a horrible headache and that he didn't understand why people had to lie at all. Ever since she had always been honest to him. They trusted each other blindly.

Claudia and Steve crossed their arms and placed them on the table, almost synchronically. "So, today you join the league of redheads, huh?" Steve was talking to both of the girls, his head facing towards his sister and his eyes looking towards Claudia.

Claude and Liv smiled brightly, Claudia only a little more than Olivia. "Wait. Does that mean… both of us? Liv!"

The older girl chuckled, but rolled her eyes. "Yes, both of us. But that was actually supposed to be a surprise. Why do the two of you have to tell each other everything? I wanted to tell her that, Stevie!"

Now it was his turn to roll his eyes in annoyance. "Alright, first off? Does it really matter now? You know damn well that I don't like lying or keeping secrets from people who are important to me." It took him a moment to realize what he just said. Claudia rolled her lips in, trying to stop herself from smiling. But as usual, she failed miserably. She loved his smile, but she hated the control it had over her. After a few seconds he decided to act like it never happened and proceeded. "And secondly, don't you think I'm a little bit too old for that nickname by now?"

Olivia smirked deviously. "You'll never be too old to be my little brother, therefor, I'll decide when you're too old for the things I call you. You've got to leave some rights to the big sister."

Claudia smiled to herself and shook her head in disbelieve. Over the years she had to admit that Olivia had a lot in common with her, as well as with Claire. Joshua never cared about being the oldest too much, so Claire took his rights for herself as soon as Claudia was old enough to think and she lost the position as the youngest.

Half an hour later, Claudia and Liv were upstairs in their room. Olivia had borrowed her surrogate sister an old pyjama shirt of hers in case something went wrong with the hair dye. Claudia was a little nervous, and even more confused at the sight of an absolutely calm Olivia. It had to be a Buddhist thing. She was often excited, but rarely ever nervous or scared. Claudia was doing her best to stay cool, but Liv looked right through the façade. "Hey, kiddo. Are you gonna be alright? You know you don't have to do that, right?"

"It's just a colour, Livi. I'll be fine. Besides, it's a matter of my sister's honour. And I think I won't look too bad with red hair, do you?" Claudia smiled at her, gathering everything they'd need before she walked out of the door and towards the bathroom.

Olivia shook her head, pulled the gloves on and followed her. "I think you and I are gonna look awesome. We'll be the coolest fake redheads ever. And your sister would be incredibly proud of you. Just like I am. Now come on!" She hurried down the hall, grabbing Claudia's wrist on the way, until they reached the bathroom. "You wait here, I'll go get a stool. You can prepare the rest here."

Claudia nodded and did as she was told. Olivia was one of the few people who Claudia fully respected. She saw the older girl as the one who gave her a new family, so she wasn't gonna question her authority. At least not seriously. Sarcastic jokes and shameless comments were simply a part of Claudia's personality, and maybe a bit of a defense mechanism. And Liv understood that. She didn't mean to hurt anyone.

Meanwhile Steve went back to his room. He grabbed his guitar on the way to his bed and sat down. He strummed a few accords, not knowing what to play. His thoughts drifted off to a trip down memory lane. The life in the Jinks' house had changed a lot over the years. Not necessarily in a visible way, but in an emotional way. After their father died, Olivia took over the lead. She was just as sad about their loss as Emma and Steve, but she always appeared to be so strong. And then she brought Claudia home. She had found a stranger crying on a cemetery, in the pouring rain and it had already been so dark that she could barely see anything. But Olivia took her by the hand and pulled her into her home as if it was the most normal thing ever. She had proudly been running around the neighbourhood and introduced everybody to her new little sister. From the very first day she had embraced the younger girl and accepted her as a part of their family. Emma didn't object any further and after a few weeks she had legally adopted the child. Granted, at first she wasn't sure if it was such a good idea. But in the end she was more than glad that she listened to her daughter rather than to her rational senses. By now she came to love her second daughter just like her first. She even accepted Claudia's wish to keep her own last name without questioning it any further. Emma understood it. After all she didn't have much else left from her real family. Emma made a similar decision after her husband died.

As to Steve, he was a little doubtful at the start. But he had to admit that it didn't take her long to set up a permanent base in his life. And in his mind. Claudia had a way about her that always managed to cheer him up. She teased him with sarcastic comments and she had a habit of borrowing things without asking first. She obviously had a problem with authority and respect and all in all she simply had a rude way to talk to people. But then there were those moments when she let her guard down in front of him and she forgot about her heavy defense mechanisms. Then the rude and sarcastic girl was just kind and pained. She was afraid to hurt others and she was still struggling with her past. She was fighting to be a good friend, sister and daughter. Sometimes he thought she was just trying too hard to improve herself to notice that she was already perfect. She was afraid they would send her away if she made the slightest mistake, he could see it in her eyes. Of course she tried to deny it, but he wouldn't even need his special ability to see that she was lying. He never told her that he knew, but she was smart enough to know that herself. Actually, she was smarter than anyone else Steve ever met. Sometimes he just wanted to hit her, sometimes he just wanted to hug her and sometimes he just…

"Whatcha thinking about?"

He was pulled out of his thoughts by that witty voice of hers once again. How did she manage to do that every time? She wouldn't leave his mind and as soon as he tried to stop thinking about her she stood right in front of him. Well, right now she rather stood in the doorway to his room, a towel wrapped around the top of her head.

"Nothing much. Is your hair already done?" He hated lying, but he wasn't about to tell her that she was in his head all day. At least not now.

"Pretty much. It just needs to dry now. Livi is still in the bathroom. We called Emma upstairs to help her. Of course she tried to do it all on her own, but…" She chuckled at the picture of her surrogate sister with a comb in one hand and a tube in the other, turning herself so she could see the back of her head. Claudia had offered to help, but Olivia wanted to do it alone. In the end, Claudia decided she'd make the choice her sister was too proud to choose and brought her surrogate mother in front of the mirror to help. "I love her like my very own sister, but it looked like she was trying chase her tail."

Steve smirked, placing the guitar aside and patting on the free spot beside him on his bed. She ambled over to him and let herself fall back onto the bed, holding the towel with one hand so it wouldn't fall off. She crossed her legs, leaning the elbows onto them and her head onto her fists. He glanced towards the towel on her head. "May I?"

She nodded, cursing under her breath as she noticed how the fabric slidover her right eye. They both reacted fast, reaching up to secure it again. She was a millisecond faster, but his hand followed suit and landed directly on hers for a second. He pulled his hand back and she placed hers on the towel. A few thin streaks fell into Claudia's face. She blew a bit of air up to get them out of her sight, but that didn't really help. Steve chuckled at her mock annoyed expression. He slowly raised his hand to carefully brush the streaks aside. Then he reached out to the top of her head, waiting until she lowered her own hand back onto the bed, and pulled the towel down over Claudia's left ear. His eyes widened at the sight of the flaming auburn red hair that was now falling down onto the girl's shoulders. She had closed her eyes, clearly excited but also a little bit nervous. She slowly opened her left eye and glanced towards her shoulder, then she opened both of her eyes and looked directly at Steve. "How does it look?"

He just stared at her for a moment, hundreds of absolutely true and suiting answers running through his mind. 'You look stunningly beautiful.' 'I've never seen something so amazing.' 'I didn't believe you could become any more gorgeous.'

His silence made her only a little more jittery. "Steve?"

He cleared his throat and nodded "I'm sorry. I…I was just looking for the right words."

The redhead raised an eyebrow. "So it doesn't look good?"

His eyes widened and he quickly shook his head. "No, no. It looks great!"

She was chewing on her lower lip, a rare uncertainty in her eyes. "Really?"

He smiled reassuringly. "Really. It suits you. And it matches your personality. It's… fiery." She smiled back at him, but he could still see the doubt in her eyes. "Hey, you know I wouldn't lie to you."

Her face brightened at this, her usual attitude returning to her. "True. Besides, it would be useless. You're a terrible liar anyways."

Deciding to play along, he looked at her in mock offense. "You didn't just call me that!"

She smirked mischievously. "Hell, yes I did! Every freaking fool could see it when you try to lie!"

He couldn't help smiling triumphantly. "Ladies and Gentlemen, there she is again. With a new hair colour, but still with the good old attitude. You almost got me worried, Claude."

Claudia rolled her eyes and hit him on the upper arm, turning slightly away so he wouldn't see that she once again mirrored his smile. Of course she still had that devious twinkle in her brown eyes, but she blushed a little too. And she hated that. "Aw, no need. I'll never lose my brattitude. It's a part of me."

He raised his eyebrows. "Brattitude? Really, Claude?"

"Yes. Really. Do you have a problem with that?" She crossed her arms in front of her chest, a serious look on her face.

"I didn't say that." He raised in hands in defense, which seemed to invite the redhead to punch him lightly again. Only that this time, he hit her back.

She glared at him. "You don't punch a girl!"

"I just did.", he said in a matter of fact.

"It's a rule. Boys shouldn't punch girls." She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"But girls are allowed to punch boys?" He raised an eyebrow, catching a dark glare from his surrogate sister.

"I was defending myself!"

"I didn't do anything!"

Steve raised his hands in defence once again. But that only earned him another punch on the upper arm from her. To her great confusion, he only smirked at that. "What?" She didn't even get to finish her short question before he grabbed her by the waist and started to tickle her. Claudia squeaked, surprised by the sudden movement. She rolled her lips in, desperately trying not to laugh and silently cursing herself for telling him about how her older brother used to get her to shut up. Joshua loved to tease her about that annoying weakness of hers ever since she was a little girl. That's one of the few things that she still didn't like about her new family. She was the youngest in the house once again. Why did it always have to be her? The redhead was the youngest one in her biological family, she was the youngest in her surrogate family and the youngest in her class at school. She had already skipped a grade, so she went to the same classes as Steve most of the time now. But that didn't change that she was still the smartest wherever she went. They even offered to let her skip another year, but she liked being in one class with Steve. Granted, that wasn't the reason she gave the director. As far as he knew, she just didn't want to be in one class with kids who were at least two years older than her. Sometimes she wondered if Steve knew the real reason. But right now she just wondered why she had to be to freaking ticklish. "Stop it!" By now she was already laughing so hard that she had to wrap her arms around herself and fell backwards onto the bed. "Steve!"

"Is this a bad moment?"

Both of them froze and looked towards the door, catching sight of a smirking Olivia with flaming red hair and her arms crossed in front of her. In that moment they just realized why she was so overly amused. Claudia was laying on the bed and Steve was on top of her, leaning onto one arm while the other hand was still holding onto Claudia's waist. She swallowed and looked up, locking eyes with him. That didn't make the situation any better, considered that their faces were merely an inch apart. Olivia chuckled at the sight, while the younger teens' hearts were beating as if they were trying to win a race. Under other circumstances Claudia knew that she wouldn't mind a situation like this. But Olivia was there. And Steve was her surrogate brother. Even though she couldn't deny that he was more than that to her if he asked her. She always forgot what she was doing when he looked at her with those icy cold yet inviting eyes. Just like right now.

She cleared her throat, bringing them both back into reality. Steve's eyes widened as he quickly pushed himself back into a sitting position, holding a hand out to her so she could do the same. She nodded gratefully and stood up again, looking back to Olivia to change the topic. "You look pretty awesome, Livi."

The older girl smiled, deciding to let it be for now. "Why, thank you. Join the club, Little Sister. And now let's go. The others are already waiting to see us."


End file.
